Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42449500›Full record

ArticleJAMA2026

Prognostic Value of Blood-Based P-Tau217 Levels for Progression to Cognitive Impairment.

Rachel F Buckley, Diana L Townsend, Colin J Birkenbihl, Madison Cuppels, Gillian T Coughlan, Mabel T Seto, Jane A Brown, Michael J Properzi, Merle C Hönig, Annie Li and 30 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JAMA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

40 authors.

Rachel F BuckleyDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Diana L TownsendDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Colin J BirkenbihlDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Madison CuppelsDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Gillian T CoughlanDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Mabel T SetoDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jane A BrownDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Michael J ProperziDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Merle C HönigDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Annie LiDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Aaron P SchultzDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jasmeer ChhatwalDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Hyun-Sik YangDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Steven ArnoldDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Pia KivisäkkDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Bryan D JamesRush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Sid O'BryantUniversity of North Texas Health Science Center, Denton.
Robert A RissmanUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Melissa PetersenUniversity of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth.
Jessica Z K CaldwellUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.
Tobey BetthauserUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.
Julie Elisabeth OomensUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.
Maria CarriganDepartment of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Brian HealyDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jorge Garcia CondadoDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Sterling C JohnsonUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.
Wai-Ying Wendy YauDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Oliver LangfordUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Michelle FarrellDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Rebecca E AmariglioDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Dorene M RentzDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Kathryn V PappDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Ron BrookmeyerDepartment of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles.
Timothy J HohmanVanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Michael DonohueUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Paul S AisenUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Keith A JohnsonDepartment of Radiology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Reisa A SperlingDepartment of Neurology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s (A4) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Amyloid Risk and Neurodegeneration (LEARN) studies, Harvard Aging Brain Study (HABS), Health & Aging Brain Study – Health D
Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s (A4) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Amyloid Risk and Neurodegeneration (LEARN) studies, Harvard Aging Brain Study (HABS), Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD), and Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP)

Funding

The Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Consortium - Down Syndrome Network (ACTC- DSN)U24AG057437 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Paul S. Aisen, RONALD C PETERSEN · 2018 to 2026
$198.4M
The Health & Aging Brain Study - Health Disparities (HABS-HD)U19AG078109 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR · PI Sid E O'Bryant · 2022 to 2026
$181.1M
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - SupplementU01AG024904 · NIA · NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE RES &EDUC · PI WEINER, MICHAEL W · 2004 to 2015
$121.0M
RECRUITMENT COREU19AG010483 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI FELDMAN, HOWARD · 2013 to 2020
$80.6M
Vascular factors, physical activity, and inflammation as modulators of neurodegenerative and cognitive trajectories (Project 2)P01AG036694 · NIA · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI REISA A. SPERLING · 2010 to 2026
$50.2M
Health and Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE-AT(N)) StudyR01AG058533 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR · PI JOHNSON, LEIGH A, O'BRYANT, SID E · 2020 to 2025
$45.4M
Research Education ComponentP30AG062421 · NIA · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI Sudeshna Das · 2019 to 2026
$36.5M
Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention: Sex Differences in DNA MethylationR01AG027161 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Nathaniel Ark Chin, Sterling C Johnson · 2007 to 2026
$35.6M
Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterP30AG062715 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Sanjay Asthana · 2019 to 2026
$34.5M
Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease (A4) Open-Label Extension StudyR01AG063689 · NIA · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI AISEN, PAUL S., SPERLING, REISA A. · 2019 to 2024
$30.8M
The Longitudinal Course of Neural Function and Amyloid in People At Risk for ADR01AG021155 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Sterling C Johnson · 2004 to 2026
$27.0M
TR&D3: Intrinsic Surface MappingP41EB015922 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI VAN HORN, JOHN DARRELL · 2012 to 2022
$14.1M
NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR021110NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR023043NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR023401NIA NIH HHS DP2 AG082342NIA NIH HHS P01 AG036694NIA NIH HHS P30 AG062421NIA NIH HHS P30 AG062715NIA NIH HHS R01 AG021155NIA NIH HHS R01 AG027161NIA NIH HHS R01 AG054073NIA NIH HHS R01 AG058533NIA NIH HHS R01 AG063689NIA NIH HHS R01 AG070862NIA NIH HHS R01 AG079142NIA NIH HHS U01 AG024904NIA NIH HHS U19 AG010483NIA NIH HHS U19 AG078109NIA NIH HHS U24 AG057437NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB015896NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB015922
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Importance: Blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer disease, particularly plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217), accurately reflect early Alzheimer disease brain pathology in cognitively unimpaired individuals, but estimates of absolute risk of progression to cognitive impairment across multiple cohorts are needed. Objective: To estimate absolute risk of progression to cognitive impairment and rates of cognitive decline based on plasma p-tau217 across cognitively unimpaired older adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: Longitudinal cohort study using harmonized data from 2684 cognitively unimpaired older adults (defined within cohort) across 6 observational and clinical trial cohorts based in North America, Japan, and Australia. The earliest enrollment was in 2004, with most recent follow-up in 2025. Exposure: Baseline plasma p-tau217. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was time to progression to cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or 2 consecutive global Clinical Dementia Rating scores ≥0.5). The secondary outcome was longitudinal change on the latent Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC; higher values indicate better performance). Results: Among the 2684 participants (median [IQR] age, 69.6 [66.2-74.2] years; 1697 [63%] female), there were 478 events of progression to cognitive impairment over a median follow-up of 5.4 years (maximum follow-up of 13.5 years). Each 1-SD increase in baseline p-tau217 level was associated with an increased risk of progression to cognitive impairment (hazard ratio, 1.38 [95% CI, 1.30-1.46]), and the association remained significant after adjustment, including β-amyloid positron emission tomography scan Centiloids (hazard ratio, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.24-1.41]). Participants with high (1.1-2.4 SD) and very high (>2.5 SD) baseline p-tau217 had 24% (95% CI, 20%-28%) and 38% (95% CI, 33%-43%) absolute risk of progression over 5 years, respectively, and risk was markedly higher over 10 years, although longer-term estimates were constrained by limited data. Elevated p-tau217 was also associated with faster cognitive decline based on change in latent PACC score. Among the overall sample, baseline latent PACC scores ranged from -0.8 to 2.7. The 5-year annualized decline for the very high p-tau217 group was -0.07 latent PACC units/y (95% CI, -0.10 to -0.05), relative to 0.03 units/y (95% CI, 0.02-0.04) in the low p-tau217 group. Conclusions and Relevance: In a pooled sample of multiple selected cohorts of cognitively unimpaired older adults, higher plasma p-tau217 levels were consistently associated with increased risk of clinical progression and accelerated cognitive decline. By providing time-specific absolute risk estimates, these findings support the potential of p-tau217 for prognostic model development, with direct implications for future trial design. Further validation in unselected populations is needed to inform individual prognosis and clinical decision-making in cognitively unimpaired individuals.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseCognitive DysfunctionPhosphoproteinstau ProteinsAgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersClinical Trials as TopicDisease ProgressionFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMental Status and Dementia TestsMiddle AgedBiomarkersPhosphoproteinspTau217tau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID42449500
PMCPMC13370474

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.